The ACLU exists for the sole purpose of extending the freedoms and rights guaranteed under our Constitution to every individual in this country, including those individuals whose voice would not otherwise be heard.
The RBF/ACLU of Illinois and other advocacy organizations are representing individuals in large nursing homes for the mentally ill in this groundbreaking litigation.
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Our complaint alleges that the State’s decision to warehouse our clients needlessly in a large institution violates the Americans with Disabilities Act’s mandate that state-funded services be provided in the most integrated appropriate setting. In late 2006, a federal court certified our clients as representative of a class for purposes of the litigation. Since mid-2007, we have engaged in substantial discovery, reviewing thousands of pages of documents, taking the deposition of key state officials and retaining experts in mental health services in order to prepare for trial. Our experts visited the “Institutions for Mental Diseases” (IMDs) in 2008 and filed reports in August 2008 that were sharply critical of IMDs. In March 2010, we reached an agreement with the State of Illinois and submitted a proposed consent decree to the court. A fairness hearing on the settlement is scheduled for September 7, 2010. More recently, the judge in the case rejected a motion by an attorney representing 17 objecting class members – counsel who was being paid by the IMDs – for permission to visit our clients. The court in considering this motion decried the substantial amount of false and misleading information that the IMDs provided to our clients as part of a concerted effort to create objections to the settlement.
